Monty Tech to have schoool resource officer on duty in fall

FITCHBURG -- If all goes as planned, Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School will have its own, dedicated school resource officer at the start of the next school year.

The Monty Tech School Committee recently voted 16-1, with two abstentions, in favor of hiring a Fitchburg police officer to serve in the position, according to Superintendent-Director Steven Sharek. He said all four of Fitchburg's representatives voted favorably on the matter, which has been discussed on and off for the past year or so.

When the idea first came up, it was too late to put into that year's budget, he said, and the committee and school officials needed more time to figure out the details.

"This time around, there was more impetus for it, based on the climate nationwide," Sharek said, referring to recent mass shootings. "There's more of an appetite, more interest, more desire to have an additional layer of protection."

The school resource officer will be much more than a security guard, however.

"They become so much a part of the community," he said. "In essence, they become another set of eyes and ears -- professionally trained eyes and ears -- to work with the school administration and build relationships with students and staff. They just happen to wear a uniform and have a badge."

He said Officer Leroy Jackson, who currently serves as the school resource officer at Fitchburg High School, as well as former school resource Officer Dana Lecuyer, spoke at a recent School Committee meeting to express the same sentiments.

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Both Sharek and Principal Nicholas DeSimone have previously worked with school resource officers at other schools and had positive experiences.

Sharek said a school resource officer can talk to students, give them advice and "help to put out fires before they even begin."

"In a high school that has 18 member communities, I think that's really important," he said.

Monty Tech will not have any direct say over which officer is selected for the position, but Sharek said he and the School Committee have been assured by Police Chief Robert DeMoura that only those officers who want to be in a school and work with kids will bid on the job. If that person ends up being a poor fit for whatever reason, that officer will be reassigned and someone else will take the position, he said.

The officer would be a senior member of the Fitchburg Police Department and would be taken off regular duty to work in the school, but DeMoura has already asked Mayor Lisa Wong to appoint three new police officers, who are scheduled to begin training at the Reading Police Academy on March 11.

According to Deputy Police Chief Philip Kearns, the three new officers are being hired largely to replace an officer who resigned about six months ago, an officer due to retire within the next few months and whoever goes to Monty Tech. After six months of training at the academy, the new officers will receive about another three months of on-the-job training before they are able to work independently, early in 2014, he said.

Because Monty Tech straddles the border of Fitchburg and Westminster, the Fitchburg officer chosen to be its school resource officer will have to be sworn in as a special police officer in Westminster to exercise full legal powers in both communities, Sharek said.

In a Jan. 25 letter to Sharek, Westminster Police Chief Salvatore Albert expressed his support of hiring the officer and a willingness to work with Fitchburg police and the school district. Albert said he believes school resource officers, or SROs, are positive role models for students.

"The SRO can act as another caring adult in the school building who works to find positive solutions for young people," he said in his letter.

Sharek said the agreement between Monty Tech and the city of Fitchburg is being reviewed and must be signed by both himself and Wong to become official.

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